Module 1

Introduction

Yep, that's me, back in 1981 as a new graduate nurse. (Go ahead, say it. My kids do. "Wow, you're old!"). I am faculty in the nursing informatics program. I spent about 12 years at the bedside, my clinical background is med-surg and ICU. After that, I moved to patient/staff education (loved it!) and spent some time in administration (did not enjoy that so much) before progressively worsening latex allergies drove me away from the bedside. I was lucky enough at that point to discover informatics. This was a perfect fit for me - allowed me to continue to make use of my clinical knowledge but in a role that was safe from latex exposure. I discovered that I have a significantly large "inner geek" that enjoyed the intellectual challenge of informatics, particularly aspects supporting bedside decision making and interdisciplinary communication/collaboration.  I also discovered that I love teaching - especially that "aha" moment when a student who has been struggling with a concept suddenly "gets it". I never get tired of that.  In addition to my professional roles...I am "mom" to 3 grown up and married kids, and grandma to 1 very busy 4 year old boy named Ninja. Yep, that's his real name.

What do I need to know about information management?
Both my MS and PhD were focused in informatics; with a move toward the subspecialty of clinical research informatics - the tools and techniques that support managing data, information, and knowledge in clinical research. For me, informatics as a specialty (versus what I needed as a bedside nurse) is a question of focus, depth, and scope. I've worked with midwives quite often, and it helps the analagy. For me, it's like, the OB knowledge I got and every nurse gets in their undergrad program, versus the in depth knowlege the nurse midwives obtain. I had certain information management skills I needed at the bedside; and I made USE of information technologies. As an informatics specialist, I delve into the design, development, and implementation aspects; I learned cognitive science and information management theories that helped explain why certain aspects are helpful or not helpful. (The articles I selected for you to read and the powerpoint in the intro section of this module illustrate some of those theories that I thought YOU may find helpful. For example, the Billings framework may be useful for those of you who are going to be teaching).  For many of you, your needs will differ. But I believe every nurse needs a certain level of information management skills and knowledge. The readings selected for the introduction topic in this module, especially the AACN essentials document and the Curran article, do a nice job of outlining the skills many of you will need whether you are a DNP or MS student.

What is happening in IT in my setting?
I am going to focus this on the activities at the College of Nursing. I also work with clinical IT staff at the U of Utah and Intermountain, but to go into all those would make this into a War and Peace length novel.

As many of you know, the College of Nursing underwent major reconstruction over the past year or so. The entire building was evacuated, and faculty and staff were dispersed to multiple locations. There's been a lot of growth as people learned communications technologies and took advantage of virtual meetings. I hope those skills will continue to be developed among the faculty and staff.

The College of Nursing has moved much of it's teaching online. Online teaching may be synchronous (like the courses in the PhD program, which are taught using the Telehealth infrastructure), may be asynchronous (like this course). Courses may be online to a greater or lesser extent, ranging from simply posting syllabi and readings, to fully online. Some courses have both synchronous and asynchronous aspects, and have both online and on-ground aspects (like the DNP capstone course).

Another aspect of teaching related to technology is the new simulation center, which will be opening when the College of Nursing is re-opened at the end of summer. This new center is state of the art, and realistic immersion scenarios are planned as a significant part of the undergraduate curriculum. Simulation also includes an academic version of an electronic health record, to help students learn skills related to EHRs.

You will do a whole module related to teaching with technology.

IT is also deeply involved in research. We've been focusing the past year on research data management, and the research support team has been rapidly moving toward study management tools. We'll talk a bit about those tools in module 6.

I could go on and on...but you're probably tired of reading by now.

Take care.

Kathy